1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an ornamental article for transdermal drug delivery for medical treatment or health care, more particularly to an article which is used for transdermal drug delivery for medical treatment or health care and which possesses an aesthetic appearance so as to be suitable for use as a body ornament.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various routes of drug delivery, such as skin contacting drug delivery patches or pads, oral drug delivery and drug injection delivery, have been available in the art for medical treatment. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Skin contacting drug delivery patches or pads involve direct attachment to the skin of the wearer such that the drug can be absorbed through the skin into the human body to effect the therapy. The drug coated on the pad is usually made wet and sticky which, when applied, often causes the wearer to feel uncomfortable and irritated. These symptoms are more apparent when the pad is applied for a long period of time. As such, skin contacting drug delivery patches or pads are generally used only when treating injuries, such as broken skin, swelling muscle, injured tendons, or the like, that need a short time period in the course of medical treatment. In addition, the structure and appearance of conventional skin contacting drug delivery patches or pads are not aesthetic. Therefore, it is unlikely that a person would use it for the purpose of disease prevention or health care, especially under long periods of time.
Oral drug delivery requires a patient to swallow the drug, which normally is in tablet, capsule, or powdered form, in order to deliver the drug to the digestive system so that the drug can be absorbed by the human body. It is known that most oral drugs can have a deleterious effect to the digestive system. Particularly, oral drugs may upset the digestive system or may cause serious problems that can hinder the proper functioning of the digestive system, especially after a long time of use. Moreover, oral drugs, if used inappropriately or carelessly, which happen quite often, can poison the user.
Drug injection requires the puncturing of a sharp item into the human body and is frequently used as an effective route for drug delivery into the human body. However, this route is quite uncomfortable and painful for the patient. When there is direct injection of the drug into the circulating system of the human body, the loading of the circulating system is raised, and the accompanying deleterious effect is also increased. No misuse can be allowed. Therefore, a person is often unwillingly to opt for the drug injection delivery for medical treatment unless absolutely necessary.
In addition, these drug delivery routes, which need to be used cautiously under prescribed dosages and indicated times may sometimes be easily neglected or misused, thus leading to an adverse affect to the medical treatment. The aforesaid drug delivery routes are therefore not suitable for a long course of medical treatment or health care.
As described above, while the aforesaid routes are commonly used in medical treatment, a common disadvantage of these routes exists, i.e., they are not suitable for medical treatment of chronic disease, or for disease prevention, or for health care that would require a long course of medical treatment.
There is therefore a need to provide a drug delivery device that is suitable for a long course of use without resulting in any of the above-described disadvantages.